More Flatland
by Andrea Rimsky
Summary: If you haven't read Flatland, don't read. A. Square's daughter's perspective on everything


Flatland, and all the characters belong to the estate of Edwin A. Abbot. 

If you haven't read the above work, this won't make much sense. Its something I wrote for English s couple of years ago and got a "C" on for "confusing plot and lack of organization" Better Luck to you.

It was a great shock to our family when my father was taken away as a madman. It made us particularly concerned, because his brother, was irregular, and on of his grand sons was slightly also so.

Somehow, his writings reached me, and through them, I began to see a clearer picture of the mysteries of Space, although I admit I do not fully understand them. I realize that you, my readers, will have read his work, and so will have a fairly clear, if biased, picture of Flatland. Thus, I will not elaborate too much on the subject, but will come directly to my story.

If you have read my father's work, you may wonder that I, a woman, can express myself, and even write, as my father did not give an exuberant representation of our intelligence. Know then, that he is wrong, and that there is much he does not know.

Most of the men of Flatland, have the idea that because they are squares, pentagons, triangles, and other many-sided figures, and because women are merely lines, that they have a greater capacity for learning than we do. Over the centuries, so much have men degraded the women, finally keeping them from all learning, that it is all but forgotten that there was once a time when even the head of Flatland's great university of Wentbridge was a women. Because of these falsehoods pressing on them, many women have deceived themselves into believing that they are unintelligent, leading to the breakdown of our sex. It has come to the point where many women exhibit no more mind than is expected by men. Fortunately, I was saved from this by a lucky accident.

My young nephew, a hexagon, the very same who had distressed my father by asking after three-cubed, has always been contrary. Upon hearing that women were un-teachable, he took it upon himself to teach one. I was the fortunate woman of our household that he chanced upon first, and so I was enlightened in the matters of reading, writing, and even geometry.

My nephew tried to tell my father of this, but my father, for all his virtues, was as obstinately sure of his knowledge of this matter, as are nearly all the men of Flatland, even the Chief Circle himself. He refused to believe anything put before him. I am now secretly glad he did so, because I would surely have been put in prison immediately, and would never have had the chance I was given.

After reading my father's work, much became known to me that I had never before been familiar with. Apart from the great theory of Three Dimensions, I had never previously know of the plight of the irregular figures. Why, I wondered after reading my father's book, should it matter if a man is a few units longer on one side, or a few degrees and minutes different in one angle? Why should not the unfortunate figure be allowed a normal life? It seemed to me that the thing that would produce the criminal side of the irregular, would be the taunts he has to endure from his family and companions, not the shape of himself. If a mere isosceles can produce an equilateral triangle, than surely a slightly irregular four-sided figure can produce an ordinary, regular square. My father admitted as much in his book.

All these things I pondered, and at last a decision came to me: I must change it. As my father pointed out, what is customary is not always correct, then most surely this suppression of irregular figures and women was wrong. My father was not successful in his undertaking, but I would not introduce theories of the magnitude that he attempted, I would point out what was surely obvious. There was no question I would be successful, I thought. But I needed companions.

I began with my sister. Although she had been brainwashed by our male society, I was at last able to persuade her to my cause. My irregular nephew, who knew he was constantly in danger of being taken away, also joined, and helped to spread the word to the other women in our area. He even managed to contact other irregular figures, and receive their support. Soon, we were ready to present our goals to Flatland.

It was a glorious day when we all marched out to the amazement of our husbands and brothers. Even I was astonished at our numbers. We demanded to speak to the Chief Circle himself, to present our case, but we were outnumbered by the multitude of quickly-summoned policeman. Many of our members fled then, but myself, my sister, and my nephew remained firm.

When it became clear that we were the ringleaders of this revolution, we were brought to court under the charges of disrupting the peace, and more seriously, rebelling against the natural laws. In vain we tried to explain the injustices done to those of our kinds. The circles, who have never experienced the prejudices against women and irregular figures could not conceive the wrongs we were protesting. To them, it seemed natural that this discrimination happen. As we could not make them understand, we were found guilty on all counts.

My nephew was executed. Under the circumstances, that would have been the fate of my sister and myself, but it was decided that as we were only "ignorant women," we knew no better. We were simply imprisoned.

The telling of this attempt to bring equal rights to all the inhabitants of Flatland is left to me. May you in Space be happier in defeating prejudice.


End file.
